About Us

The Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium, named after a Laredo philanthropist, opened to public in April 2005. At that time, it was one of only 14 new-generation Digistar 3 digital projectors in the United States. The 40 foot dome of the planetarium is inside a four-sided glass pyramid topped with a gold leaf pinnacle. The glass pyramid planetarium building is a shining beacon at Texas A&M International University, and is one of the foremost attractions of Laredo. The Planetarium was upgraded in 2014 to a state-of-the-art Digistar 5 projection system from one of the leading planetarium manufacturing companies in the world which can show the view from any part of the known universe. One of the most sophisticated planetariums in the State of Texas, this system has two 4K digital projectors that display a 360˚ video image on our 40 foot dome that is 8 times the resolution of 1080i HD television. Eight to ten times brighter than the previous projection system, this system immerses the audience in a truly spectacular visual environment with great depth of field and rich colors which has to be seen to be appreciated! The upgraded 5.1 surround sound system provides an immersive auditory experience, truly making you feel that you are there, whether on an alien planet, deep in space, or somewhere here on earth.

To get an idea what it is like to be immersed in a video show extravaganza at the Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium please click on our planetarium commercial link below.

Director’s Message

The Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium is a community outreach of Texas A&M International University serving the students and public of south Texas. We live in an extraordinary age of exploration of our universe. Our goal is to fire the imaginations of young people about discovering the wonders of life on our earth, the wonders of our universe, and the fascinating journey of scientific discovery, encouraging them to pursue careers in STEM areas. We also endeavor to inform and entertain the public with shows featuring many of the fascinating places in our universe that are being discovered every day. We do this with our state-of-art projection system that immerses our audience, surrounding them completely with a spectacular audio-visual extravaganza. Come explore the universe with us at the speed of imagination!